Alternative Testing for Water Contaminants Approved by EPA

In order to better discover water contaminants in drinking water, the EPA has approved 21 alternative analytical methods to record levels of contaminants and determine compliance with regulations.

Jun 23, 2014

Under the Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA), the EPA has approved 21 alternative testing methods for analyzing drinking water samples. This will allow public water systems, agencies, and laboratories to have more time to access measurement techniques and more choices in testing methods, which will also reduce the amount of monitoring costs.

According to the notice, these alternative testing processes are as effective as one or more of the methods already in use and “shall be treated as an alternative for public water systems to the quality control and testing procedures listed in the regulation.”

In regards to choosing which test to use, the “EPA is providing public water systems required to test water samples with a choice of using either a test procedure already established in the existing regulations or an alternative test procedure that has been approved in this action or in prior expedited approval actions.”

By approving the alternative test methods, the EPA also determines the regulations for each test procedure for compliance. This would include regulations for industries, municipalities, and state, local, and tribal governments.